What:
End-users are given materials and a structure to record daily activities, events, and experiences in relation to a specific subject. Unlike other ethnographic methods diary studies allow users to self report in the form of a journal.

Why:
User diaries can give deep insight into people’s lives, particularly patterns of behaviour over time. These findings are documented and may be used to help develop personas or bring scenarios to life.

A narrative written by users and illustrated with their own photos can tell a convincing story to stakeholders. 

When: User diaries are most useful at the ‘understanding‘ phase of a project and should feed in to concept development.

How: users are given a diary and asked to keep a written record of their impressions, circumstances and activities related to the relevant aspects of their daily lives.

The diary can be kept over a week or sometimes longer. A follow-up interview should be conducted at some point after the briefing session. This helps ensure that participants are actively engaged, and are collecting the required information.

Single use-cameras can be an effective way to get users-to record significant incidents or environments. Annotated photo diaries can be as simple as pictures of a users mantlepiece, desk or the contents of their fridge, but still provide valuable insights into daily life, attitude and habits.

At the end of the specified period, the diaries are collected and analysed.
A de-briefing session allows further exploration and validation of the information gathered by the participants..